Manufacture of gasolene.



A. D. SMITH.

MANUFACTURE 0F GASOLENE. APPLICATION FILED @1.28) |915'.

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Patented Sept. 4, 191?.

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.ARTHUR D. SMITH, OF VINITA, OKLAHOMA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO JOHN T. MILLIKEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MANUFACTURE OF GASOLENE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4l, T1017.

Application filed April 28, 1915. Serial No. 24,415.

To all whom t may concern:

' Be it known that I, ARTHUR D. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vinita, in the county of Craig, State of Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Gasolene, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the method of destructive distillation of higher boiling point compounds of petroleum and particularly distillates known to the trade as fuel oil or gas oil, having a boiling point of 500o F. and upward.

A known method is to subject the aforesaid fuel oil, gas oil or distillate of a paraffin ,group to a temperature of 6500 F. to 850 F. in a closed vessel under 4 to 5 atmospheres pressure, maintaining said pressures on vapor evolved during distillation v throughout thei course to and While undergoing condensa ion. Y

This method has serious drawbacks to successful commercial operation due to the deposit of carbonon the heated surfaces of the inclosing vessel so that this aforesaid 'heated surface becomes red. hot with danger of burning out the bottom' of the still, the deposit thereby preventing the still running to high efficiency.

My invention deals with a novel method of distillation of the above described fuel oil, gas oil 'or distillates of paraffin nature ati pressure of 125 to'150 pounds and at a temperature of 600 to l700".F., whereby so rapid a circulation is maintained during the process that the objectionable aforesaid carbon deposition on the heating surfaces of the still is greatly reduced and the yield of crude gasolene increased some 70 to 80%, due to ability to prolongthe'process by removing danger of burning out the heated metal surfaces.

However highly desirable this process, it is evident from the chemical composition of the 'aforesaid gas oil, A'fuelA oil or distillate, that carbon is continuously formed during the breaking down of compounds of higher to those of lower molecular weight, which carbon, `while prevented to a great extent in my process from adhering to the heated surfaces, musty eventually bring the process to end if not removed; and my method .further provides for removal ofthis obJectionable carbon by sweeping at intervals portions of the charge to suitable interchangeable filters and returning the carbon free fluid to the still together with fresh distillate, the action being thus rendered continuous, a most essential feature'as regards increasing the output from a given size of apparatus. By carbon free fiuid is meant a liquid from which suspended carbon particles likely to deposit. on heated metallic surfaces have been removed.

It has been noted that, however desirable is the method of applying pressure throughout the course of distillation to and while vapors are undergoing condensation, nevertheless a certain constant loss takes place through evaporation of the lighter gasolenes passing from the liquid to gaseous state as the condensate flows from the end of the condensing coil to the receiving tank where-it passes from high pressure to atmospheric pressure with great lowering of surface tension; and I have discovered that this aforesaid loss may be reduced from forty to fifty per cent. by keeping not only the vapors themselves under pressure to and while undergoing condensation, but the liquid condensate as well, relieving pressure in excess of 150 pounds only at the storage tank. I allow the latter to nearly fill before removal of contents, 4and I blend the saine immediately with low gravity naphtha,thus entraining and fixing lighter portions. of condensate producedunder pressure and `incorporating these compounds to a large eX- tent 'a permanentpart of thc final crude gasolene so that subsequent evaporation is reduced to a minimum. Further details of the invention appear'in rconnection with the following description of the process and ap storage-tank 10 by a pump 11, through the pipe line 12 tol a boiler or still, which may be of any suitable type. The still shown in thev drawing consists of the drum or shell 13 which is mounted ina suitable setting over the furnace 14 with its longitudinal ica ila

axis at a slight downward inclination from front to back. Nipples or connections 15 open into the bottom of the shell at its front and back ends and these nipples are connected to the tube boxes or headers 16 which are arranged at the front and back ends of the furnace chamber. A series of parallel tubes 17 connect the headers, and the tubes and headers are arranged at a considerable upward inclination from back to front below the boiler shell in the path of the hot gases from the furnace. The boiler outlet 18 is provided with a vacuum valve 19 and safety valve 20. A vapor line pipe 21 leads from the boiler outlet to the condenser 22. The boiler is also provided with a pressure gage 23 and a thermo-electric pyrometer 24:. An outlet pipe 25 for residuum leads from the lower end of the back header 16, and is normally closed by a valve 26. Within the boiler are arranged a series of revolving brushes 27, which may be made of steel wire or other metal capable of withstanding heat and corrosion. `The brushes are operatively connected together with driving chains arranged within the boiler, and the rear brush is mounted on a; shaft which passes through a stuiiing box in the side of the boiler and is provided with a pulley 28 on its outer end. The pulley 28 is belted to a pulley on the line shaft 29 whereby the series of brushes may be rotated at a suitable speed. The brushes are rotated in the direction shown by the arrows in the drawing, thereby assisting in maintaining the circulation in the still, and also sweeping the bottom of the 'boiler shell free from the carbon which has a tendency ,to deposit and accumulate therein during the operation of the appa- .ratus Preferably the drum orshell 13 has -1 culation and assists in preventing deposition of carbon in the apparatus. It is understood that the arrangement -of parts shown Iin the drawing,` is only a typical arrangement of one form of still, and that it can be varied according to requirements for proper circulation, type of boiler or still used, or greater orJ less tendency of the carbon to deposit. Any suitable arrangement of brushes may be used-to assist circulation and to sweep the metal surfaces clean.

As the suspended car'bon accumulates, a portion of the liquid contents of boiler is withdrawn at intervals, for instance every thirty minutes, through the residuum outlet 25 to the lter 30 where it is passed through fullersearth, spent bone char, or product of similar nature'and thereby made free from carbon. The distillate is drawn ofi the bottom and returned by the pump 11 through the pipe line 12 into the boiler 13, together with such fresh distillate from the tank 10 as may be necessary to take the place of the gas oil freed into the lighter hydrocarbons The filters 30 may be of any convenient size and number, and are provided with suitable stop cocks 31'so that those not being charged may be in process of preparation when those in use become clogged withcarbon and are no longer eliicient. The iiltering process being thus intermittent renders the process as a whole continuous.

The vapors leaving the vapor line 21 are condensed in the coil 32 of the condenser 22, and fall as liquid condensate into a condensing tank 33. The same pressure is maintained in the condensing tank as throughout the remainder of the system. Any excess of pressure above 150 pounds on the system is relieved by `the relief valve 34. When the condensing tank is nearly full, its contents may be withdrawn through the valve 35 and mixed immediately with low gravity naphtha, thus ixin the lighter hydrocarbons which hitherto have been allowed to escape in apparatus wherein the condensate receiving tank has been kept at atmospheric pressure.

This invention is not restricted to the precise temperatures, pressures and times set forth above, nor to the apparatus shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The process of producing crude gasolene continuously which consists in distilling in a closed system of circulating channels the liquid portions of the paraffin series having a boiling point of 500 F. or above and known familiarly as gas oil or fuel oil at a pressure from about 125 to 150 pounds and at a temperature ranging from about 600 to 7 00o F. while maintaining rapid circulation throughout the system, and removing suspended carbon in the charge by intermittent iltration of portions of the charge, whereby filtered oil together with fresh oil may be added to the charge without clogging the system.

2. The process of producing crude gasolene continuously by destructive distillation in a still or closed system subjected to heat throughout which comprises effecting rapid circulation of the contents of the system in acyclic path by a mechanical agitating device to prevent deposit of carbon therein, and collecting carbon in suspension in said contents and removing said carbon from the masseuse m and having Aheating surfaces inclined underneath, which comprises preventing the deposition of carbon on said surfaces by mechanically circulatmg ther charge over said surfaces toward their lower ends, prolviding portions of the apparatus where the carbon particles can collect, periodically removing said carbon particles by intermittent filtration, and returning the filtrate to the system for further treatment.

4. The process of producing crude gasolene continuously by cracking in a closed system of tubes and rece tacles arran ed for ositive circulation ofp the charge t erein, w ich '1M ll 1. D. SWHTH.

kl., this 24th day of 25 

